Why aren't American soap operas on DVD?

[Tymps]

It seems insane and so unfair that the American soaps haven't been released on DVD yet (sans Dark Shadows of course). In the UK Coronation Street released 80 episode sets covering each decades. Hell, I'd settle for 10 episodes of a US series.

I know many episodes from the 50s-70s are lost, but I'm sure there are enough to do DVD sets. Dark Shadows is from the 60s and is complete, Ryan's Hope premiered in 1975 and is complete and so is The Young and the Restless which premiered in 1973. Just because a show isn't in collectors hands doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Fans pay between $500-$2000 for those sold out fan events, so obviously we have the money to pay for a $30-$50 DVD. Plus there is an easy way to promote them since they are still on air.

One thing I'm aware of is that for whatever reason current soaps can't be put syndication. They have to get permission from everyone in every episode to even show a classic one on SOAPnet. Could it be the same thing for DVD?

Do you guys ever think soap fans will see DVD releases? I'm thinking not unfortunately. But Procter & Gamble has a soap channel at AOL.com so if anyone will do it, it's them!

[bmasters9]

The daily serials might not be on DVD, but 3 of the major American prime serials of the '80's are-- "Dallas" (which, I believe, is up to S6-- I'm pretty sure that, the way that Warner counts seasons, it might be 1982-83), "Knots Landing" S1 (1979-80), and "Dynasty" S1 (winter/spring '81).

[friendsfan77]

I would kill to see classic eps of shows like Y&R, ATWT, Guiding Light, Days, Another World and Edge of Night be released on DVD. Since there are so many episodes, they could easily do 'best of' and/or 'before they were stars' releases. There were MANY really famous celebrities that either started or did soap operas earlier in their career. I mean, seriously, what good are these episodes doing locked in a vault collecting dust?

[Dr. Thong]

I would imagine that logistically speaking, it would be very hard to do. Most daytime soaps run five days a week, right?? So let's assume that minus some holidays and whatnot that maybe your average daytime soap has 250 episodes per year or per season.

How many DVDs for a complete season box set would that translate to? Assuming four episodes per DVD, you'd be looking at - yikes! - 62 DVDs per set!!

That would not be cheap. And besides, let's face it, most daytime soaps move slow as molasses and drag things out for months on end. Maybe they could do a retrospective of each season and whittle it down to a few DVDs to represent each season. Of course, completists wouldn't be served well by this, but I doubt you'll see complete season DVDs of daytime soaps.

I could be wrong, but...

[Tymps]

Dr. Thong, I agree complete sets would be ridiculous for long running soaps, but Dark Shadows was successfully released in complete episodes on DVD and it has over 2000 episodes. It was successfully released on VHS AND DVD actually, so there is a market. They did it with 10 episodes per disc for 40 episode collections. The complete series was only like 30 collections.

I don't expect complete seasons from daytime, but Best Of's is not difficult. They could do Best of: Decades, Best of: Couples, Best of: Storylines, etc.

Last year was Luke and Laura's big 25th anniversary. Instead of a big DVD with classic episodes, extras, etc. they sold a cheap "Luke and Laura wedding ring" at Sears. How ridiculous is that?

I maintain that fans would definitely buy the DVDs if they're willing to pay over $2000 for sold out fan events. Not only do you have fan events to sell the DVDs at, but you can air promos for them during the show. OLTL and ATWT releases books that became best sellers in recent years.

And SOAPnet is the third faster growing cable network so clearly there is an audience for classic soaps.

[comedyfreak]

Actually it could be done, what about taking a major storyline and put it on dvd. I would love to have classic General Hospital, All My Children, and One Life To Live. They did put out the best of the Weddings on VHS some years ago.

General Hospital I'd like to see how Luke and Laura met and married.
One Life To Live- Adventures of Tina Lord.
All My Children- Best of Erica or Pheobe Tyler

[catlover79]

Don't forget, many of the soaps began airing live when there was no videotaping. Then when they began videotaping in the late '50s-early '60s, it was an expensive process. Many times the tapes would be recorded on over and over again to save money. Thus, many classic era soap episodes are not available at all anymore.

That being said, I sure would love to see episodes of soaps that aired way before my time...Secret Storm, Love of Life, Search for Tomorrow. The '60s-'70s episodes of Another World, esp. the Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle all the way through Harding Lemay's reign as headwriter (called the "golden era" of AW) sound really awesome too. Oh well (sigh)...

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

Actually it could be done, what about taking a major storyline and put it on dvd. I would love to have classic General Hospital, All My Children, and One Life To Live. They did put out the best of the Weddings on VHS some years ago.

General Hospital I'd like to see how Luke and Laura met and married.
One Life To Live- Adventures of Tina Lord.
All My Children- Best of Erica or Pheobe Tyler

I so agree with you. I would love to see All My Children and some of those great storylines on DVD such as the early 80's with Greg and Jenny, Erica and Adam, Jessie and Angie...those would be great.

[GoldenGirlsFan92]

They are to long to put on DVD.

[friendsfan77]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Don't forget, many of the soaps began airing live when there was no videotaping. Then when they began videotaping in the late '50s-early '60s, it was an expensive process. Many times the tapes would be recorded on over and over again to save money. Thus, many classic era soap episodes are not available at all anymore.

While you are right, thankfully there are a few exceptions to this. Ryan's Hope, Dark Shadows, The Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives, and The Doctors all exist in their entirety.

I do hate the fact that networks were lousy at archiving old game shows and soap operas and other programming, and how expensive videotapes were back then. I guess with the shows I mentioned above, the producers could afford it.

[80sTrivia]

It would be great if a DVD company would release some classic soap episodes! I love it when a soap such as The Young & The Restless will show a clip from many years ago, such as they did recently by showing a clip of Catherine from the late-70s. This proves that footage from the older shows still exist. The soaps from the 50s and 60s were broadcast live for the most part (hard to imagine) and then shot on kinescope before the advent of video tape. (A kinescope was the process of setting up a movie camera and filming the show live from a monitor, so the quality wasn't always the best.) I've been concerned for the past several years over the fate of the American soap opera, with the erroding viewership and competition from the Internet and other media. Soaps are facing tight financial crunches and are paring down casts and budgets in an attempt to save on production costs. Gone are the days of big-blown budgets and exotic on-location shoots that were so popular during the salad days of the soaps in the 1970s and 1980s. I believe some desperate measures need to be taken in order to save this important medium from eventual extinction...